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The Daily Sweat: Dallas tries to avoid going down 2-0 (again) Friday vs. Golden State
The Dallas Mavericks face an uphill task to even their series with the Golden State Warriors before it heads to Dallas for Game 3.
The Mavericks enter Game 2 of the NBA's Western Conference Finals as 6.5-point underdogs. Golden State easily won Game 1 112-87 after opening each half with big quarters. Golden State outscored Dallas by 10 in each of the first and third quarters and put the game out of reach early in the fourth.
The Warriors kept Luka Doncic in check as he scored just 20 points on 6-of-18 shooting. No other Mavericks player had more than 17 points as his supporting cast couldn’t get going either. Dallas shot 36% from the field and just 23% from behind the arc. Golden State shot less than 35% from three but was 36-of-53 from inside the arc as seven players scored at least 10 points.
Dallas is +220 on the money line in Game 2 while the Warriors are -275 to leave town with a 2-0 lead in the series. Going down 2-0 would be nothing new to Dallas and likely not faze the Mavericks all that much. After all, this is the same team that went home for Game 3 against the Suns down 2-0 and proceeded to win four of the next five games to knock the best regular-season team and Western Conference top seed out of the playoffs.
Another Warriors win is also likely to drop its Finals’ odds even more. Golden State entered the series as the favorite to win the Finals at +120 and is down to +110 after Game 1. A 2-0 series lead could push Golden State down to an even money favorite to win the title.
Home teams favored in the NHL
The Carolina Hurricanes and Calgary Flames each scored home wins to open their playoff series earlier in the week and enter their Game 2s as favorites.
Both teams are -175 straight up on Friday night and you can get them at plus odds if you’re willing to take them -1.5 goals. Carolina is +150 to win by two goals or more over the New York Rangers while the Flames are +135 to win by two or more over the Edmonton Oilers.
Carolina won Game 1 over the Rangers in overtime. The three combined goals in that game were just a fifth of the total goals scored in the Flames’ win over Edmonton. That 9-6 win for Calgary featured seven goals in the second period as Calgary jumped out to a 6-2 lead before Edmonton scored four consecutive goals to tie the game early in the third.
That high-scoring Game 1 is reflected in the total for Game 2. The over/under in Carolina is 5.5 goals while the total in Calgary is 6.5.
Cut day at the PGA
The field will get whittled by roughly half Friday afternoon at the PGA Championship. Tiger Woods is nine strokes off the lead following the first round after shooting a 4-over 74. His playing partner Rory McIlroy shot a 5-under 65 to take the lead after the first round and ended the round as the favorite to win the tournament at +300. The No. 2 favorite is now Justin Thomas at +700. He ended the first round two strokes off McIlroy.
Woods was +100 to miss the cut ahead of the tournament and -125 to make it. A bettor wagered $13,000 on Woods to miss the cut at +115 and that bet is looking pretty good after the first round.
Padres slight favorites over Giants
The biggest MLB series of the weekend is in San Francisco as the Padres and Giants meet for their second series of the season. Sean Manaea faces off against Jakob Junis as Junis has been a stellar find so far in 2022. The former Royals pitcher has changed his pitch selection to great effect and has a WHIP of 0.97 and has struck out 18 in 20.2 innings.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, are at Philadelphia this weekend.
Who cashed tickets Thursday?
Bettors who took the Boston Celtics in Game 2 didn’t have to sweat as the Celtics cruised against the Heat and tied their series at 1-1. Bettors who also grabbed McIlroy as the first-round leader of the PGA are also extremely happy.
Blues bettors were also rewarded Thursday night as St. Louis got a 4-1 win at the Colorado Avalanche to tie their playoff series at 1-1. The Avalanche are still the Stanley Cup favorites, but the Blues showed Thursday night that this series could be competitive.
